American forensics, but the gourmet system

When Russell entered the apartment's living room, Jesse was talking to a brown-haired woman in a corner of the room.

There were several empty whiskey bottles and a tin box for cookies under the coffee table in the living room.

“…I really don’t know Vera,” the woman said, shaking her head. “I’m not even sure when she’ll be here. Sometimes she doesn’t get home until the early hours of the morning, and sometimes she doesn’t come back for days at a time. Isn’t she a dancer? I thought she had some kind of place to rest at the theater…”

"Vera's roommate."

Diaz whispered to Russell and Captain Hansen, then led them toward Vera's bedroom.

Vera's bedroom was messy, with blankets and quilts piled haphazardly on the bed, and various ballet costumes, dance socks, and underwear hanging on an armchair by the bed.

Beside the bed, there was a dressing table with bottles and jars of all sizes on it; there was nothing that shouldn't be there.

In the living room, the woman's voice grew impatient, as if Jesse's question had offended her.

"Does Jesse think Vera's roommate is a suspect?" Russell asked as he bent down to take pictures of the various cosmetics.

"Probably," Captain Hansen said, walking over. "She was the closest person to the deceased; we must rule her out as a suspect..."

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"I think we can rule her out," Russell said, staring at a bottle of foundation on the table. "That woman has a serious alcohol dependency, and her hands were shaking uncontrollably... There's absolutely no way she could have accurately inserted a scalpel into Vera's aorta."

Captain Hansen nodded:

"Marty, go outside and tell Jesse to be nice. Don't interrogate that woman like a suspect."

"Yes, boss."

Marty turned and went out.

A moment of silence fell over the room. Russell examined the cosmetics on the table, occasionally taking photos with his phone; Captain Hansen opened Vera's wardrobe and looked through the clothes inside; Diaz silently opened the drawer under the dressing table and searched carefully inside.

"Something's not right..."

Russell suddenly spoke up.

"I also feel like something's not quite right..."

Captain Hansen turned around, carrying a coat in his hand.

"Her spending habits seem to be higher than we thought," Russell said, pointing to the cosmetics on the table. "These bottles and jars are all from big brands... I just searched on Amazon, and they're definitely not the kind of value-for-money option for working-class people..."

"This handmade cashmere coat isn't cheap either," Captain Hansen said, shaking the coat in his hand. "And it's just an ordinary piece of clothing in her wardrobe... If I weren't in a cheap shared apartment, I would have thought I'd walked into some rich lady's closet."

"There are also a few luxury bags," Russell said, pointing to the shelves on top of the wardrobe. "LV, Chanel... but I'm not sure if these are genuine."

“If these bags appeared alone, I would think they were fakes,” Captain Hansen said, frowning. “But placed next to these expensive, bespoke clothes… I think they must be genuine.”

"So how much can a ballet dancer earn?" Russell asked. "Is it enough to support her spending habits?"

"I'm afraid that won't work..." Captain Hansen shrugged. "According to Jesse and Diaz's previous investigation, Vera's annual salary at the ballet theater is approximately $4.5 after tax. After deducting her necessary expenses, it's clearly impossible for her to live that kind of life..."

"So she must have other sources of income." Russell's eyes began to wander around the room. "Whether it's inheriting a fortune, becoming an internet celebrity, or—what is that?"

Diaz had just opened the bottom drawer of the dressing table when Russell immediately spotted the large cardboard box inside.

There's nothing wrong with having a cardboard box in a drawer, but the design on the box is...

"A whole box of condoms."

Diaz took the cardboard box out and placed it on the table.

"A hundred extra-large condoms..." Russell opened the box; only a small portion of the condoms remained. "Vera probably has a boyfriend, and a healthy young one at that... Imagine, would you buy a whole box of condoms, keep them at home, and then use up almost all of them, Captain?"

"I'm 48 years old, Russell..." Captain Hansen touched his slightly balding head a little awkwardly.

"Oh, sorry." Russell chuckled, turned and walked to the bedroom door, then looked towards the living room and asked, "Ma'am, do you know who your roommate's boyfriend is?"

"Boyfriend?" Vera's roommate paused for a few seconds. "I had no idea she brought a man home..."

"And a mysterious boyfriend." Russell turned to Captain Hansen. "From a suspect's perspective, wouldn't a boyfriend be easier to get close to Vera than a roommate? Considering Vera's spending habits, her boyfriend is probably quite wealthy... It's well known that there are often some terrifying perverts among the rich."

Captain Hansen nodded slightly, clearly agreeing with Russell's deduction.

"Let's start with her boyfriend," Captain Hansen said to Diaz. "Interview the managers and colleagues at the Vera Theatre and find out his identity and background..."

"Yes, Captain!"

……

The stew pot in the kitchen was bubbling away, and the aroma of lamb chops slowly wafted out.

Aina was writing and drawing on her iPad, while Russell sat to the side, lost in thought.

From Aina's perspective, Russell did appear to be spacing out, but in reality, he was studying the two skill upgrade points he had just acquired.

He was just about to invest those two skill upgrade points into [Master Butcher's Knife Skill (Elite)] when he discovered other items that could use skill upgrade points...

It's in the skill bar following 【Skillful Hands (Elite)】.

The terms "Forensic Pathology" and "Forensic Anthropology" are shining brightly, seemingly eager to be filled with major skill upgrade points...

Does this mean that skill upgrade points can be used to upgrade more than just the skills the system has given Russell?

Russell tentatively invested one of his skill upgrade points into [Forensic Anthropology].

The system light flashed.

A vast amount of knowledge slowly poured into Russell's brain.

Entry refresh:

[Forensic Anthropology: Defeated 69% of opponents with this skill]

Just a second ago, the value in the entry was only 64%.

Skill upgrade points have this kind of use?

If Russell could acquire enough skill upgrade points, wouldn't he be able to successfully transform himself into a max-level human?

However, Russell immediately discovered the limitations on the use of skill upgrade points.

It can only be used on 60%-90% of skill modifiers.

Cooking skills above this range, and other skill attributes below this range, cannot be maxed out with major skill upgrade points...

That's not bad either.

Russell then invested his second skill upgrade point into Forensic Anthropology.